Contact with the criminal legal system comes with a price tag that a growing number of Americans cannot afford to pay. With one in three Americans living with a criminal record, it is no surprise that an estimated ten million Americans owe a total of 50 billion dollars in court imposed fines and costs.
The Social Security Administration just announced that it wants to change its rules for people who get disability benefits, including SSI. Most people would have to prove disability every two years. If Social Security moves forward with this proposal more than two million people will be at risk of losing benefits over the next ten years. …
Right to Counsel passed unanimously in Philadelphia City Council on November 14! This bill guarantees low income tenants an attorney in eviction cases and is a critical step towards stabilizing communities, stemming the effects of gentrification, and addressing systemic racism & housing discrimination in Philadelphia. Read more about this legislation here and here. Read CLS…
For years, Philadelphia operated an inefficient assistance program for low-income water customers, Philadelphia’s most economically vulnerable households. The program helped only 7,000 of more than 60,000 low-income Philadelphia households per year. Customers in that program received a small grant and fixed bill amounts for 12 months. If you were enrolled in that program and your…
For decades, the Family Advocacy Unit at Community Legal Services has provided holistic family defense for parents involved in child welfare cases, pairing attorneys with social workers and paralegals to provide wrap-around support to our clients. Recently, there has been a growing recognition that children do better when their parents are provided with intensive, tailored…
CLS Deputy Director of Operations and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Brenda Marrero on what it means to belong.
It’s Time for the Supreme Court to End Employment Discrimination Against the LGBTQ+ Community. The following blog post was written by CLS Litigation Director Sharon M. Dietrich. On Tuesday, October 8th, the United States Supreme Court will hear argument in three cases presenting the question of whether Title VII, the federal civil rights in employment law,…
This summer, Community Legal Services (CLS) was thrilled to establish the Senator Roxanne Jones Fellowship to enable future leaders in public interest law
The conversation about child welfare is changing, both locally and nationally. While over 440,000 children are in foster care on any given day in our country, society is beginning to question a model that for far too long has seen family separation as the solution to poverty and instability. In the words of our federal Children’s Bureau leadership,…
Families Should Be Able to Take a Raise, Work More Hours, or Save for a Rainy Day Without Risking Losing their Food Assistance Overnight. The USDA has proposed a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) rule that would make over 3 million Americans ineligible for SNAP benefits. The rule would severely cut back a longstanding state option – called…
